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Functionalism and the Software of the Mind
In our previous look at Daniel Dennett’s work, we explored the “how” of consciousness—how evolution could move from mindless bacteria to the complex symphonies of Bach through the slow accumulation of “competence without comprehension.” But if Dennett is right—if we are truly biological machines—we are left with a staggering conceptual hurdle. If the mind is…
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The Transmutation of Temperance: Ancient Stoicism vs. The Modern Manual
To the contemporary reader, Stoicism is often presented as a cognitive armor—a “resilience training” for the entrepreneur or a method of emotional regulation for the high-performer. However, a journey through the history of the Stoa reveals that Stoicism began not as a productivity hack, but as a totalizing metaphysical commitment. The transition from the ancient…
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What is Christian Existentialism? The Leap into the Infinite
In our previous exploration, we walked through the smoke-filled cafes of 1940s Paris to define the “mood” of atheistic existentialism. We looked at Jean-Paul Sartre’s “existence precedes essence” and Albert Camus’s “Sisyphus,” both of whom painted a portrait of a human being standing alone in a silent, indifferent universe. To the atheist, we are “condemned…